‘It’ beat ‘American Made’ and the ‘Kingsman’ sequel to win the weekend box office — for now

Going into Sunday, the weekend box office was in a three-way dead heat for the No. 1 spot.

The horror “It” was looking to follow-up on its September dominance by stealing a box office win to start October, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” was looking for a second-straight weekend win, while Tom Cruise’s new movie, “American Made,” was coming in as the big new weekend release that would overperform to get the win.

With all three hovering around a $16.5 million weekend take, estimates show that ‘It’ has won with $17.5 million while “American Made” and “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” have tied with $17 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The clear winner will be determined when official numbers come in on Monday.

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Universal

“American Made” went into the weekend with a very strong Rotten Tomatoes score for a Cruise movie (87%), but with industry projections having it earning only $13 million to $15 million on over 3,000 screens, many thought it didn’t have a chance to compete for the weekend box office win.

But never count Cruise out. The movie overperformed on Saturday to get into the running.

After winning last weekend, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” was looking for an easy repeat win with “American Made” and the other weekend big new release “Flatliners” looking to fizzle away.

That definitely happened with “Flatliners,” a reboot on the 1990 original that starred Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts. The film had a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score and only took in $6.7 million on just over 2,500 screens (it had a $19 million budget).

But “American Made” beat “The Golden Circle” on Friday taking in $6.1 million over the $4.87 million “The Golden Circle” took in, proving it would be a photo finish.

“The Golden Circle” and “American Made” stalemate at $17 million will also be decided when official weekend numbers come in on Monday.

“It” was in the hunt this whole time because neither “American Made” nor “The Golden Circle” are making huge coin. The Stephen King adaptation only dropped a remarkable 41% in ticket sales from last weekend. In its fourth weekend in theaters, that’s an amazing feat. The movie has now made $291 million domestically.

The close race for the top was all due to the dull choices in theaters at the moment. But that will all change next Friday when “Blade Runner 2049” hits screens.